A public session was held on Tuesday, May 24, 2011 in the Blue Hall of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH with the civil society and government officials on the topic ‘Faster to Europe by Reforming the Energy and Environment Sector’. This session was organized under the second phase ofÂ the initiative “Citizens for Europe”, led by

A public session was held on Tuesday, May 24, 2011 in the Blue Hall of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH with the civil society and government officials on the topic ‘Faster to Europe by Reforming the Energy and Environment Sector’.

This session was organized under the second phase ofÂ the initiative “Citizens for Europe”, led by the AssociationÂ “Vesta”, a place under the auspices of the EU Special Representative,Â Valentin E. Inzko, with the support of SIDA, and in collaboration with theÂ Directorate for European Integration. The initiative gathered more than 30Â civil society organizations. The EU Special Representative Valentin InzkoÂ argued that the Serbian Republic and the Federation have been faced with budgetÂ deficits that will be significantly increased if the international funds will notÂ be soon realized.

“Failure to adopt the general framework for theÂ fiscal period from 2011 â€“ 2013, The Fiscal Council of BiH prevents allocationÂ from Stand-by arrangement with the IMF as well as macro-financial assistanceÂ funds, which is one of the reasons why entities are running out of funds andÂ donations”, said Inzko.

He pointed out that BiH politicians must immediatelyÂ establish the authorities at the state level, because if that happens there isÂ a danger that the economic crisis in BiH assume major proportions.

“Political instability is increasingly worseningÂ the already difficult situation when it comes to unemployment”, warned Inzko.

According to him, all major investments are blocked inÂ infrastructure for electricity transmission and distribution and of 10 percentÂ of the total toll revenue and purchased cars in 2009, which currently stands atÂ more than 20 million. He noted that foreign direct investment in BiH has experiencedÂ a decline of 71.4 percent in 2010 compared to 2009.

Also, Inzko said that after the assessment of theÂ falling credit rating of our country, it will be much harder to convinceÂ foreign investors to come and start to open much-needed jobs.

“The fall of credit ratings may cause an increaseÂ in interest rates in commercial banks that are operating in BiH. This wouldÂ create an additional burden for households and businesses. It is a powerfulÂ blow to the economy of BiH and the standard of living of its citizens”, saidÂ the EU Special Representative, adding that the enormous opportunities andÂ potential of BiH in the energy and environmental protection.

Swedish Ambassador to our country Bosse Hedberg saidÂ that the idea of â€‹â€‹such meetings is to be improve dialogue betweenÂ civil society and decision-making by contributing to the welfare ofÂ the country.

Coordinator of the initiative “Citizens forÂ Europe” Amra Seleskovic said that the report of the European PartnershipÂ stated that the improvement in the energy sector and environmental protectionÂ was at an all time low.

“We will try to find out what the reason are forÂ this delay and where the opportunities for better cooperation with civilÂ society and how to help BiH move even faster path towards the EU”, saidÂ Seleskovic.

Member of the Energy and Environment team in front ofÂ civil society Lena Bratic pointed out that the energy sector and environmentalÂ protection state in BiH can be defined as chaotic. In recent months, consultationsÂ with various civil society organizations and other stakeholders on key elementsÂ of energy policy and environment in the process of European integration haveÂ been arranged.

The conclusions from these meetings are summarized inÂ the document ”Energy and the Environment – Recommendations of the civilÂ society for a faster path towards the European Unionâ€™â€™ which is available onÂ the website initiative www.gradjanizaeuropu.ba.